The present invention relates generally to devices which are attached to a handle or supporting structure for a blade for the purpose of cleaning said blade by scraping, and more particularly to such a device for cleaning a surgical cautery blade.
Cautery pencils are used in surgical procedures primarily for two purposes. One is to sever blood vessels and the other is to stop the flow of blood from severed vessels by sealing them off. To accomplish these ends a cautery pencil is wired to an electrical power source which is employed to emit high frequency radio waves from the tip of the cautery blade. When the surgeon is using the instrument to sever a vessel a higher frequency is employed.
One of the problems associated with the use of a cautery pencil for both functions is the accumulation of dried and carbonized tissue and blood on the cautery blade. Probably the most common method of cleaning a surgical cautery pencil during its use is for the surgeon or a nurse to use sandpaper pinned to the patient's gown. U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,357, teaches the use of a supporting frame attached to a towel or drape, said frame containing compressible pads which hold a pair of abrasive strips which are mutually engaging except at one end where a cautery blade is received for cleaning. Although the use of sandpaper or other abrasive materials located in the vicinity of the operating surgeon has generally been acceptable, all of the well known problems associated therewith are present. Some of these are the loss of effectiveness of the abrasive material during use through filling with removed debris, the lack of amenability to sanitizing for re-use, the removal of blade surface along with debris, and the loss of potentially valuable instants of time while the surgeon hands the pencil in need of cleaning to an aid to await for a replacement or alternatively stops to search for the cleaning implement if he elects to clean the blade himself.